In recent years the Midlands have seen some real talent emerging from the ever present metal scene, with Leicester playing it’s part through some good venues and great bands, and on the 19th of August 2011 a new name was thrown into the mix; ÜnterMensch premièred their own brand of Thrash inspired Death Metal to the metal heads of Leicester.

The basement of Odd Bar was packed out for the start of the set, kicking off with the fast paced Blood Rush and the pirate anthem, Cursed, quickly enticing the crowd to gather round and start rocking out. Maybe it was because the band’s obvious excitement about playing their first gig was infectious, or maybe it was the bands’ surprisingly tight style, but the crowd clearly loved every second, enthusiastically moshing to the heavy music, even chanting “UnterMensch” loudly in unison as they finished out their set. My personal favourites had to be the surprisingly bouncy So, Smile and the always improvised Bacon Face (a song about a rather unsuccessful private eye…made out of streaky bacon).

Since their inception, ÜnterMensch have been going from strength to strength and on May 4th 2012 will be a part of the second I Wanna Be A Rockstar Semi Final at The Shed alongside Blunderbuster, Kickstarter and a host of others. The other Semi Final (on April 21st at the same venue) involves One Suspicious Monkey, Smokin' The Profit, Hot Frolics and more. ÜnterMensch's style, energetic performances and contagious stage persona has seen them swiftly become one of the top bands, of any genre, that the city has to offer.

A great band that are definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something loud, fast and heavy.

By Camilla Echeverria

10. Ocean Bottom Nightmare - The Blade Was Rusted

A nomination from one of our festival writers, D.C Madigan - We found Nottingham's Ocean Bottom Nightmare at Glastonbudget a few years back and stayed in the tent they were playing it primarily because nobody else was there and we were unimpressed by that. But we were in no way unimpressed by the quality of this band, a genuine surprise for us and at the time a real festival discovery (the band has since gained much deserved national acclaim). The Blade Was Rusted kicks the door in from the outset and introduces you to the energy the band can give, but then slides through various jazz infused breakdowns to develop into an all out masterclass in song structuring.

9. Sally Hossack - No Sustain

Sally Hossack is by far the most stunningly atmospheric vocalist on the East Midlands music scene. No Sustain showcases Sally's talents to their fullest, beautiful guitar lines, a beautifully subtle flute part, mature and mind alteringly deep lyrics. Sally doesn't just create music, she creates moods, musical journeys, and No Sustain is a musical journey that everybody should go on. Heart breaking, comforting, soul affecting and reassuring all at once, Sally's music can control your psyche like nothing I've ever heard, amazing lady, amazing song.

8. Dean J Sharman (DJs Blues Bar) - I'm Drunk

One of the most endearing acts on the Leicester scene, a humble man who cuts the perfect figure for a bluesman, his songs, by his own admission, focus on alcohol. But he's a blues singer, they're supposed to and I'm Drunk is the best example of this, a simple premise, crafted to perfection by a very talented musician.

7. Grace Petrie - Farewell to Welfare

A political folk musician who is of such a high calibre that she will be sharing the stage at The Musician in Leicester on April 26th with Roy Bailey and Leon Rosselson as well as several other influential artists as part of the Anti Cap Roadshow. Grace Petrie is the East Midlands best exports and has been touring and playing with some huge names over the past few years. Farewell to Welfare is everything a modern political folk song should be, reigniting the voices of those who came before her, but in a style that is pure Grace Petrie. Her lyrical assault on the British government is as brave as anything I've heard "someone's got to foot the bill, let's start with the disabled and the mentally ill." Grace pulls no punches as she sings personally, intelligently and perfectly. The most influential song on this list, one of the most influential songs I've heard, a lady who should front every revolution this country ever has.

6. Smokin' The Profit - Can't Catch Me Because I Quit

One of the catchiest riffs I've ever heard that manages to, for reasons far beyond my understanding, completely avoid being cheesy. Darker than Smokin' The Profit's usual material, although that in itself is a fairly loose statement as this is a band who cover a lot of styles throughout their ample back catalogue. The lyrics aren't only well written, they are also rhythmically perfect and work with the instrumentation and effects to blend into a fantastic high octane kick towards the end of the song to create something not too far short of a true masterpiece.

5. Nancy Dawkins - Inadequate

Truly one of the most heartbreaking songs I have ever heard and also comfortably one of the most beautiful. Nancy is becoming one of the most valuable assets to the East Midlands music scene with her outrageously song-writing talent. Inadequate takes a much used theme and makes it so original, so unique and so personal that there was no way the track was going to miss out on being included in this list.

4. Natalie Squance - The Owl and the Pussycat

In my opinion the best guitarist in the Leicester area and one of the best the country has to offer, Natalie Squance is an absolute pleasure to see perform. The sweeping guitar line in The Owl and the Pussycat with its wonderous musical fluctuations would be enough to take a place on this list, but add Natalie's mature vocal talent and her top rate lyric writing ability and this becomes one of the most stunning songs in existence. A story beautifully told with a kooky charm that is entirely hers. A wonderfully unique artist with a huge future ahead of her.

3. Barricades Rise - Sleepwalkers

This was one of the hardest calls to make, there was no doubt that Nuneaton's Barricades Rise were going to make this list due to their fantastic song writing abilities, but picking which song was a real challenge. Eventually it was decided that Sleepwalkers was the only option, the change from verse to chorus should not work, it has no right to work, yet, live or recorded, it is one of the most sublime musical experiences I have ever had.

2. Sam King - Disgrace to Society

A young man making quite a name for himself on the Leicester open mic circuit, with Disgrace to Society Sam King has stumbled on an almost perfect song writing formula. I'm fairly sure that lyrically, musically and structurally this is the most commercially viable song I have heard from any unsigned act so far. The chorus hook of "You're a disgrace to society but a hero in my eyes" is literally built to be understood, appreciated and quoted by a huge demographic of music listeners. A genuinely spectacular track from a charming man.

1. Mary-Anne Ratcliffe - Out Here Alone

I changed the order of the top five so many times, it was a really tough decision to make, but in the end, first place went to Mary-Anne Ratcliffe for Out Here Alone. A lady who is constantly adding strings to her musical bow, Mary-Anne decided she couldn't do enough yet so learnt to tap out guitar solos. Not happy to just learn the trade, she created a song with possibly the most epic tapping solo I have ever heard. Out Here Alone is a hard hitting stunning piece of song writing as well as an exercise in tru musicianship. The track shows off Mary-Anne's range and ability to turn her hand to any musical genre. Her entire dark Side Of Beautiful album is a demonstration of this, but never has a showing of such pure talent, style, precision and virtuosity been demonstrated by an unsigned act like it is in this song. Nothing short of awe-inspiring.

By Andrew Mills

There are very few things in this world that leave me lost for words, I'd be in the wrong job if there were, but Candian bluesmith Matt Andersen seems to find a way to do it every year I see him.

In my humble opinion Matt Andersen is the best blues guitarist alive today, he is also one of, if not the best blues vocalist on the face of the earth, the combination of these two brought a smorgasbord of excited and awestruck noises from a capacity crowd.

It was the first time (having been the last three times Matt has played here) I've seen a crowd worthy of the great man, clearly his name is eventually carrying the weight it should and the people of Leicester have realised that one of the gigs of the year for seven pounds for an advance ticket is a bargain that can't be turned down.

Support for the night came from Leicester's own Dean J Sharman, the slide guitar specialist admitted to me before the gig that his annual support slot for Matt is the only gig he plays that he is nervous before. Its an understandable statement, as preceding a man of such unlimited talent is a big ask for anybody.

But Dean again rose to the challenge off with style and brought the best performance I have ever seen him give.

After Dean's set, Matt Andersen took to the stage to rapturous applause and broke into a set of two parts, with an interval - the first time I have seen him play to that length. I assume that given the size of the crowd a clearly humbled Matt felt the need to give back so extended his set to please his crowd.

A set predominantly made up of his own material from the high octane Devil's Bride, to the truly beautiful So Gone Now as well as material from his new album Coal Mining Blues, including the stunning title track drew increasing levels of joyful response from his audience.

His rapport between songs is stunning, introducing one song as: "about a friend of mine who had a girlfriend that none of us liked" and a song about his own girlfriend: "there should be a seperate place in heaven for musicians girlfriends, in a four and a half year relationship I've missed four birthdays and one christmas... so I had to write her another song."

This man is simply the most talented, most charming and nicest man I have ever seen perform and I will be back in the front row when he returns next year, I expect to see all of you there.

By Andrew Mills

After stealing the show at Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival and before going on to do the same in Edinburgh, the De Montfort University Footlights Society found the time to host their own competition, So You Think You're Footlightingly Funny; the search to find the funniest student at DMU.

The heats were over, the final was upon us and I arrived at the newly opened Just The Tonic comedy club with well in excess of 100 expectant comedy fans. As the night began, last year's winner of the best newcomer award and M.C for the evening David Anthony Wood took to the stage to warm up the crowd for ten minutes, David is a very dry comedian and it appeared that some of the crowd struggled to get 'warmed up' by his routine before the first act took to the stage, but that should not and does not take away from the fact that David is a very funny man.

The two awards being decided on the evening were Best Newcomer and Comedian of the Year, before I reveal and review the runners up and winners in each category, a few words for a few people who lost out on the awards in what was one of the tightest competitions I have ever seen, I would genuinely have hated to judge this one.

One of the bravest performances of the night came from David Murphy, who started his ten minute set by spending three minutes solving a rubix cube, "I've been waiting to have ten minutes to myself". Anyone who can spin a rubix cube and keep people in fits of laughter is worthy of a mention, and upon solving the cube ("ah, this is awkward") he launched into the rest of his set, which was in part an act of pure worship to the geekiest and most niche references imaginable, beautifully constructed, wonderfully performed, one of my favourite sets of a very high quality night.

Now, I've kind of been dreading writing this one, mainly because I could not work out for ages after the set exactly what I'd just seen, which does put a slight spanner in the works of journalistic brilliance. Nicklas Anchersen may not have received the best audience reaction of the night, but he undoubtedly received the strongest and for that reason a mention is necessary. His material was at times at least borderline offensive, one joke which referenced Amnesty International gained a lot of sharp intakes of breathe from the audience, however I will defend this joke as if listened to from start to finish it actually wasn't offensive and was genuinely quite funny, performing it on this stage was either very brave, or very stupid. However some other jokes, especially Nicklas' opener are not so easy to defend, this was without doubt a funny set, just perhaps aimed at the wrong crowd.

Naomh Cullen had the tough job of being the first act of the evening, however if there were any nerves they certainly weren't on show. Naomh is a phenomenally confident performer who, despite performing to a crowd who appeared to have not quite woken up yet, delivered a very funny set with true aplomb and by the end of her ten minutes she had without doubt got the audience's attention and gained a lot of new fans in the process. Library stalkers and optional self-denial were a couple of the diverse but somehow connected subject matters that Naomh covered, I could not think of a better way to start an evening.

THE WINNERS:

Best Newcomer, Runner Up - Shaun Turner

Shaun Turner is one of the nicest men you could ever wish to meet and his brand of comedy is charmingly inoffensive, which in the modern age is an uncommon quality, what makes Shaun even more of a rare commodity is that he makes it is incredibly funny.

Shaun also showed great bravery in this performance, firstly because it was the first time he had ever mentioned on stage that he suffers from cerebral palsy. He did not do this in a way that attempted to draw sympathy from his audience, nor was it a gratuitous mention, he made it contextual and funny, a difficult combination to achieve. Shaun was also one of the only people to bring entirely new material to this set, much of which he was still editing in the minutes before he took to the stage.

I caught a few words from the well deserved runner up:

"I'm both honoured and flattered to finish runner up... The standard was really high, everyone had an extremely good gig and it was an amazing night. It was one of the best moments of my life...

"Support from the other footlighters this year has been fantastic, Jack Campbell and David Murphy have helped me grow as a comedian, but I'd just like to extend my huge thanks and appreciation for Jessi Wilson for organising and managing not just a quality competition, but a very enjoyable and productive year."

Best Newcomer, Winner - Alec Gregory

This was Alec Gregory's fourth ever comedy performance, in fact I believe the heat of this competition was his very first, he is very new to the scene but watching him you'd have no idea. I have a lot of respect for the fact that he at no point mentioned that he had not been doing comedy long, Alec, as Shaun before him, made no excuses for himself, he set himself up to be judged entirely on his performance and his performance was pure quality.

It was clear that Alec enjoyed himself greatly on stage and this was confirmed when I spoke to him a couple of days after the show:

"It was an absolute privilege to share the stage with such talented, lovely people... it was the most fun I have ever had, I can't even explain the rush you get stepping onto the stage. It was an amazing atmosphere. I still can't get over that I won best newcomer, it was a genuine shock."

There are people on this planet who are just natural comedians, Alec is one of this breed, his observational and personal comedy that at one point became a lecture in blokey hug etiquette was charming, humble and confident, a spectacular performance.

Comedian of the Year, Runner-up - Lydia Rickards

"The set I performed on Tuesday night I had been thinking about for a while. I like to try new things on stage, I hate the idea of being predictable."

There was certainly nothing predictable about Lydia Rickards' unique and gutsy performance, especially as due to a power cut during the heat she could only perform to the judges and not to the audience: "I had to perform stood next to a laptop, miming into a pen!"

I have seen Lydia's comedy once before, and I am, without any shadow of a doubt, falling increasingly in love with this woman every time I see her perform. That may sounds like a strange thing to admit during a hard hitting piece of journalism, but it is testament to Lydia's talent and skill that she can draw such strong reactions from her audience.

The last performance I had seen was a fairly straight stand-up performance, and a very funny one. At the 'So You Think You're Footlightingly Funny?!' Final, Lydia pulled something completely new out of the bag. Taking to the stage and announcing that there were two things we needed to know about her, she holds grudges, and she's known to hold grudges. Then Adele's Someone Like You kicked in and Lydia began to mime, there was a second of pure confusion from the crowd and then a Powerpoint presentation began on the screen at either side of the stage.

Subverting the song word for word and creating a presentation about social network stalking, darkest inner most wishes, heart break and bitterness in its purest and most beautiful form, this wonderfully original, well constructed and genuinely hilarious presentation was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Lydia knew this idea was a risk:

"I was just delighted that people laughed in the first place. I had mentioned to a few mates what I was thinking of performing but I think the comedy got lost in translation as I attempted to explain my idea to them and they didn't really seem to get it...

"I also panicked when I saw that the screens were not on the stage, by my side, so I'd be up there on my own. I just thought to myself no backing out now... I never expected to even make it through the heats, let alone be runner up... [I'm] so chuffed."

It was a risk that paid off and showed a whole new side to Lydia's comic abilities, its no surprise that this talented and innovative young comedian is swiftly gaining my affections, but don't tell her I said that - it might make the next gig I'm at very awkward...

Comedian of the Year, Winner - Dan Nicholas

Some people have dry senses of humour, some comedians perform in a very straight style, Dan Nicholas takes both these ideas and elevates the level to ridiculous degrees, it is a beautiful sight to see.

Dan is a consistently funny man, but he took his performance up a notch for the final, again bringing a very brave set and utilising a lot of new material this performance bordered on the virtuosic. His entire set interconnected without ever seeming to make complete sense, a difficult thing for anyone to pull off, Dan was relentless with his obscure and unique brand of comedy, producing a complete assault on the senses, he has the ability to make you laugh without you being completely sure why.

Fighting tigers, not mentioning David Cameron, dedicating every joke to people of a different name and claiming responsibility for the origin and growth of dance as an artistic medium, Dan finished his set by shouting at himself for a terrible attempt at observational comedy.

It is hard to describe how funny this man is, luckily the fact he won this award should do most of that job for me, in a competition of the highest quality, Dan was the stand out act and he clearly could not be happier with the honour:

"The whole competition was brilliant and friendly, I am over the moon to have won Comedian of the Year.

"Everyone performed to such a high standard on the night and I feel honoured to have won."

This entire night cemented the place of the DMU Footlights society at the forefront of the Leicester comedy circuit and they will undoubtedly tear the roof off Edinburgh later in the year. An amazing night that I am very happy I had a chance to witness.

By Andrew Mills

St Patrick’s Day is a favourite for everyone in Britain, not just the Irish contingent. The choice of where to go for the best celebration Leicester has to offer is always a big one for people of the city.

This year my decision was to go to the Polar Bear, a decision that was certainly not a bad one. Celtic infused folk band The Paddywax brought a taste of Ireland and much more to this usually very student orientated pub.

Combining Celtic sounds with aspects of world music and using instruments varying from folk mainstays like the violin, flute and tin whistle, to the more unexpected, like the harmonica, and a didgeridoo.

Tin whistle player/vocalist Ciara, known also for her work with flamenco folk outfit One Suspicious Monkey, was on sparkling form for this gig and harmonica man Sean Clutterham played to his usual phenomenal standard.

Newest member of the band, percussionist Sam Winterton, the busiest man in Leicester, known best for his work with Smokin’ The Profit and Clusterfunk has accustomed to his new position with the Paddywax with impressive speed and sparkling aplomb.

Using a makeshift percussion set consisting of cajon, bongos and pieces of drum kit he adds a new dimension to the band incredibly well considering this was his second gig with them.

The gig itself was a new experience for the Paddywax, who do not often play to student crowds, tending to attract an older brand of folk lover, but the St Patrick’s Day audience ate up every note of the bands three half hour sets. Stand out tracks included the Paddywax’s renditions of Dirty Old Town and Summerfly, as well as original material including the atmospheric Perfume Lady.

An impressive set, from a talented band that Leicester music lovers will be hearing a great deal more from over the coming year.

By Andrew Mills

The first Parkin presents brought a new flavour to the Leicester music scene, four very talented acts, one piano, one evening of beautiful music.

Frankie Binns started the proceedings, presenting a very impressive twenty-minute set of improvised instrumental piano work, a sublime start to any evening.

Following Frankie to the stage was Lloyd Allen, standing well over six feet tall, Lloyd is known for his violin work as well as being a solo singer/songwriter who performs with his guitar. He did play a couple of songs in his set on a guitar but the predominant tool of choice was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the piano. The piano brought a completely different feel to Lloyd’s voice and songs, adding a dark sense of melancholy that accentuated his style to perfection.

After Lloyd’s set came one of my favourite acts in the city, Mary-Anne Ratcliffe. This was the first time I’d seen Mary-Anne play a piano and had no idea what to expect, it turns out her talents really do know no end as her hands danced across the keys again bringing a complete different vibe from her normal set. She performed her own song Mr. Sophisticated, which was written for piano and her newest song Beautiful Burden which was not, in fact she had only played it twice on guitar and introduced it as ‘the biggest risk she’d ever taken at a gig’, a risk that undoubtedly paid off. Topping off her set with covers ranging from Tori Amos to Nirvana, Mary-Anne cemented her place as one of the best songwriters and all round musicians the city has to offer.

Headlining the night (although he is intent that this was not intentional) was David Parkin and The Good Friday Band. Recently David’s show that he has been touring around the city and beyond, focusing on depression and told through David’s own experiences, has gained funding to be turned into a theatre show.

To this end David has hired in a couple of musicians, to create the Good Friday band to accompany him when he plays piano and performs his songs and poems. David’s sets are always inspirational, suffering from bipolar disorder myself I have huge admiration for what David does, the confidence it takes to do it and the stunningly humble way in which he performs it.

This was the first time I had heard David with the full band and they compliment him better than I could ever have expected. Cellos, a glockenspiel and various percussive instruments were passed between the two accompanists, at times provided musical accompaniment, at other times providing very impressive sound effects.

Parkin Presents… is apparently to soon become a regular night and after seeing this first one, I truly can’t wait for it.

By Andrew Mills

The clue was in the title with this one, this show was very much a work-in-progress at to this end, some of the jokes were not as smooth as they could have been and undoubtedly will be in time.

Josh Widdicome is a very shy man and much like most comedians searches for validation on stage from his audience, but unlike many others, Josh's shyness just causes him to be more likeable. The purpose of this show was to discover which parts of his current material were not good enough and either needed to be edited or removed from the show.

Not everybody was incredibly useful to this cause, there was a woman who was laughing so much throughout the show that Josh asked at one point ‘Can I throw you out for laughing too much?’ His point (however sarcastic and affectionately it was delivered) being that with a constantly laughing woman it was hard to tell if she didn’t like anything.

As far as I have it worked out a comedian's job is to point out the mundane things that we all do or can at least relate to and make them funny. Josh succeeded in this most of the time, nevertheless I couldn’t help feeling like some of his observations had a few flaws and needed possibly some more research.

Obviously this is the point of work in progress performances and hit and miss jokes are to be expected, but as a journalist it is my job to dig for criticism as well as praise, and some of the observations in this show did not quite strike the right chord with me.

However, all in all, the show was very funny and showed great potential, Josh Widdicome is a very entertaining man and a great comedic talent. When the creases in this show have been ironed out, it could well be the one that will take him that extra step up to the absolute top tier of British comedy.

By Hannah Calderbank

Depending on who you talk to, musical comedians are either a beautiful but rare commodity, or a plague on the very existence of comedy. Whatever your school of thought, a great musical comedian can still draw a reaction from a crowd like no other.

Dan Wallbank is undoubtedly a very funny man, with a real talent for comedy songs that puts him in the aforementioned bracket of top class musical comedians. The subjects for Dan's songs are fairly run-of-the-mill - love, loss, heartbreak, work, dreams of celebrity hit and runs, zombies, crossword puzzles... ok, they're not all stereotypical subjects. In truth, even when they are Dan delivers them with a completely different flavour that makes him a performer as endearing as he is talented.

Clearly nervous at the beginning of his set, (well when I arrived, towards the end of his first song, he decided to point my lateness out to the room, which I appreciate...) Dan, a familiar face on the local open mic circuit, quickly clicked in to a more comfortable state and was clearly really enjoying himself on stage. Bringing a mix of his older material and some new songs, all of which were very funny and impressively different in style from each other, Dan thrilled the near capacity crowd.

Despite an extension to each song that was apparent to anyone that had previously seen Dan, I assume to make up the hour long set, each song still worked in its own right and at no point did any song sound overly forced, Dan seems to have a very strong understanding of exactly the length of extension to a song that artistic license allows for.

Dan is no stranger to performing at the Cookie, having supported for many a comedy act in the past and has become a well-known face in local comedy, but as he seems to be continuously going from strength to strength I would thoroughly suggest getting to a gig of his if you have not before.

In my opinion the best free show at the Cookie over the entire festival, at least of the ones I saw - this was a wonderfully entertaining performance and, being one of the last performances of the festival, a fitting end to three weeks of incredible comedy.

This show is available on pay what you want basis here: danwallbank.bandcamp.com

By Andrew Mills

The De Montfort University Footlights shows have grown consistently in popularity since the society's inception and show no sign of letting up. On Friday a unique selection of comedians brought their talents to a whole new audience when performing at The Cookie Jar as part of Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival.

The show, aptly named Gagging For Attention, was the brain child of one of the hardest behind the scenes workers on the Leicester comedy scene and a lady I admire with everything I have, Jessi Wilson.

Jessi, who is as humble as she is productive, was heavily involved with the organisation, promotion and running of the event, as well as funding it from her own pocket. What Jessi and her team produced was a truly spectacular performance to a sold out crowd, I saw upwards of 30 people turned away at the door, which is a clear sign of how well the event was promoted.

The event itself did not have a bad act on the bill, again I am unable given the space restraints to mention everybody but all were of top quality. I will go through some of my personal highlights though, starting with my personal favourite act of the evening, Shaun Turner.

I have known Shaun for some time and was probably more guilty than anyone else for mocking him affectionately, but ruthlessly when he decided to try stand up comedy. He has humbled me before and has proven himself to be very funny indeed, bringing his own unique brand of self-deprecation to many an appreciative audience. However, at the Gagging For Attention event Shaun raised his game to a whole new level. He has always been funny on stage and very watchable, but Shaun broke out a couple of new, genuinely top class jokes for this performance and, in his own inimitably understated way, seemed more surprised than anyone by the fantastic reaction he received. A truly top notch performance from a lovely man - but don't tell him I said that.

M.C Ben Hustwayte proved himself to me again as an incredibly talented comedian, using anecdotes from the Comedy at the Cookie event and making them even funnier than they were at the time is deeply impressive with two days planning. The jumper loving comedian, who dealt very well with meeting a man he had earlier tenderly insinuated was involved in certain unmentionable criminal activities in the toilets during the interval and seemed to be able to continuously poke fun at this particular man with enough charm for the man himself to laugh more than anybody else - which was a challenge, as it was properly funny.

Lydia Rickards had by far the best opening line of the night, and the juxtapositions of her soft spoken, gentle stage persona and some truly crude humour made her stand out from the crowd. Despite issues well beyond her control interrupting her set at times, Lydia rose above it with class and style and delivered a set full of phenomenal near line crossing jokes with great aplomb.

Reuben Williams Smith introduced himself as the token black comedian of the evening, but there was nothing stereotypical or predictable about his comedy. Thoroughly entertaining stories delivered effortlessly did come close to being shown up by an outstanding heckle by his own mother, but a great performance nonetheless.

Dan Nicholas managed to balance dark humour and a captivating stage presence to absolute perfection and brought to the fore quite how varied the Footlights group are. Every possible brand of stand up was covered across the evening and none delivered with more delightfully reserved confidence than Dan.

Ending the night was Jack Campbell, literally the dryest man on the face of the earth. Jack comes from the school of comedy that goes by the logic that when it looks like a joke is dead, you can continue to kick its lifeless corpse for as long as your talent will maintain keeping it funny, and he does it as well, if not better than anyone I've ever seen. A perfect end to an evening's comedy, Jack had people doubled over with laughter for his entire set and dealt with it with a professionalism and a (I hate this term, but its true) star quality way beyond his years.

Look out for all these comedians in the future, this was a breathtakingly funny evening that should be a cause of great pride for everyone involved. DMU Footlights has proven itself again as a high flyer in local comedy and if you are yet to see a show, I suggest you get to one very quickly.

By Andrew Mills

The Comedy At The Cookie night has become a favourite amongst comedy festival goers and the sell out crowd was in great spirits as we all took our seats for the show.

There were no household names on the bill, no television regulars, the show sold out because of the trust that the event has earned in previous years, and because 5pounds for 11 acts performing for a total of well over two hours is a bargain very few can argue with.

The M.C for the evening, Leicester's own Ben Hustwayte, took to the stage to warm up the crowd, his effortless rapport with the audience and his cheeky charm prepared the room perfectly, then the acts started to come.

Tom Young was the first performer to take to the stage, a genuine giant of a man, Tom announced that he was attempting to use none of the material that will be in his new solo show at the Y Theatre on Sunday. Instead he decided, due to the length of The Cookie Jar, that he would wander through the crowd talking to random members of his audience. An odd performance, but an entertaining one.

Following Tom was a variety of talented rising stars from the world of comedy, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. The sublime was perhaps best embodied by young Matt Richardson, who you can see in his solo show 'You're The Kind Of Morons I Want As An Audience' at the Cookie on Sunday at 7pm. Matt is a whirling ball of talent, energy and intelligent observational comedy who spoke with great skill and affection of his family and his experiences. He comes across as a man who could read the phonebook and make it funny, but instead of painting by numbers his comedy is sharp, strong and very impressive.

The aforementioned ridiculous was captured best by Ramon Le Tigre. A character, also known by his English name of... Raymond The Tiger. The character was obscure, dry, and at times very funny. I'm not a great fan of comedy characters as stand up acts, and personally I found the character hit and miss at times, but I felt there was a lot more potential and on a given day Ramon Le Tigre could command complete attention and adoration from an audience.

I'd love to talk about every act who performed on the night, but there literally isn't space. Everyone who performed was impressive in their own way and the night showed that the resurgence of comedy over the past decade shows no sign of letting up, as these up and coming acts all have the potential to perform on a much bigger stage and do it very well.

By Andrew Mills

I have seen Rob Rouse at the Crumblin' Cookie once before, and he enjoyed the atmosphere enough on that occasion to make a triumphant return during this year's Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival.

Rouse's new show Life Sentences focuses predominantly on the birth of his baby daughter, his second child. Considering she (he does not divulge her name, as he recently met a two-day old baby called Keith and was so thrown off that he now fears that the name he gave his daughter would be laughable to others while seeing normal to him) was born a mere 11 weeks before this performance, it is no surprise that she is the focal point of his comedy.

After (and before, by his own admission this is a work-in-progress and not as linear as it will be) discussing the new found feminism that comes with the birth of a baby daughter, Rouse goes into what can only be described as unnecessary detail about the birth process and the events surrounding it. From most other comedians this would be a step too far, but with the exception of a couple of members of the crowd who seemed to not realise that a night out at the comedy is aided by the ownership of a sense of humour, the entire audience hung on Rouse's every word with glee.

Intertwined with Rouse's mildly disturbing stories are tales of his family that add a heart warming intimacy to his performance, stories of his dog's thieving habits and the error of typing vajazzle into Google images with his mother were immensely popular with the crowd.

There is a charm that accompanies this man that cannot be denied, which gives him the opportunity to broach otherwise taboo subjects with ease, the phrase "licked clean by a pack of whippets" will truly stay with me for many a year to come.

I was fortunate enough to see this show on the first of its two-night run at The Cookie Jar, Rouse accepts it is pretty rough round the edges, there are edits and finalisations to be done before the show is complete, but as a spectator, this was a joy. Who Rob Rouse is and how much he enjoys what he does was clear to see and only caused him to appear more endearing to the audience. There was a feel of being a part of something that few will have the chance to see, a top-class comic, perfecting his art in front of our eyes.

Clearly at a point in his career where he is more ready than ever to take that final step into comedy superstardom, it may be this show that eventually accomplishes this for Rob Rouse. To be a part of the learning curve for this show was a genuine honour and the finished project should be an absolute charm to see performed. A fantastic show, from a truly lovely man.

By Andrew Mills

My first free show at the Crumblin' Cookie saw Sarah Archer bring her work-in-progress show Constant Craving to Leicester during her pre-Edinburgh test period.

As a work-in-progress the work is very openly admitted to not being perfect and that showed at times, the flow was stuttered on occasion and this from time to time took away from the general feel of the show. However Archer's charm and ability as a storyteller won through every time. Discussing her new found realisation that she had never been completely satisfied ("not like that"), Archer cites the London riots and the Littlewoods christmas adverts as her reasons for this epiphany.

Covering subjects as diverse as perverted priests, thieving headteachers and childhood obsession with Cliff Richard, Archer performed to a dishearteningly lacking crowd with great aplomb. When the show is tightened up, edited and perfected, it is very possible that her Edinburgh performances will see Sarah Archer taking a step up the comedy ladder.

By Andrew Mills

We have worked several times with the Crumblin' Cookie and have made no secret of our admiration for the venue and the way that its run. This year, the Cookie has expanded with the creation of a new basement venue. The Cookie Jar will play host to a range of shows and exhibits from across the local and national arts scenes and will play an integral part in Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival.

With the festival now well underway, the Cookie is hosting a range of high quality acts in The Cookie Jar, - how many new venues can boast a surprise performance from Russell Howard within a fortnight of opening?

On top of the events at The Cookie Jar, The Cookie will also be hosting free shows every night in the coffee shop - seeing a total of 51 acts during the course of the festival.

So what brought on the decision to add a new level to the Crumblin' Cookie? I caught up with Crumblin' Cookie owner Antony Hopkins, known to his friends as Tinny:

"We were constantly using the ground floor of the coffee shop as a venue. Our idea always was to have a little bit of comedy, a little bit of music, just something relaxed. But it started to grow pretty quickly...

"For us it meant closing the coffee shop for events and changing the coffee shop round on a constant basis... It seemed logical to find a space that allowed us to do what we wanted to do...

"Fortunately Dominoes Toys offered me the space directly below the coffee shop, that's the same size as the coffee shop. As soon as I walked in I realised the potential to have a venue in there, which opened up a whole new world for us"

The design of The Cookie Jar feels like a nostalgic reference to the music venues and jazz clubs of old, only missing sticky floors and the smell of stale smoke, neither of which were selling points back in the day. The light fixings and back bar are created from pipes to add an industrial feel to the venue. Tinny's dream from a design perspective was to bring the venue back to its roots:

"I love exposed brick and you can see that in the coffee shop. I take pride in the building, in keeping it as it was originally, this venue is a basement and for me it should look like a basement.

"The existing brickwork's still there, the existing wood panelling's still there, but what I've done is decorated in a style that is in keeping with the rest of the building and the rest of the venue. As we've grown we've looked at the building, brought some of that history back."

A soft launch on Friday January 27th, followed by an official launch the following day that included performances from Dark, Dark Horse, The Daydream Club and Chester natives Shy and the Fight found great success and were a chance for all involved with The Cookie Jar project to revel in their glory:

"For us it was a celebration of three and a half weeks of solid work and I wanted to show off, I didn't do any work, but I put it all together and that's a cause of immense pride for me. I saw it such a long time ago and I've had a lot of help on the way from people who brought their own ideas.

"Without everybody around me I wouldn't have half of what I do, you know I will work from 6 in the morning until 12 at night to keep going and I think the fact we're still here and we're expanding is testament to the work that we all put into the venue."

The Crumblin' Cookie has become a mainstay of the Leicester Comedy Festival over recent years, winning Best New Venue in 2010 and following that up with Best Venue honours the subsequent year. This year, with an extra venue and 16 more shows over the festival, that itself has grown beyond recognition with sponsorship from television channel Dave, The Cookie looks to become even more involved in the festivities.

But the venue is not just for the comedy festival, there is much more to come and Tinny and his team have big plans:

"my roots, my real love is music, and that's going to play a big part in the venue downstairs. If I can get a good gig every week then that's great, if I can get two even better.

"When the Charlotte closed it left a hole in the local music scene, I'm not claiming to be the new Charlotte because I'm not, but if I can get the kind of up and coming acts that the Charlotte used to get then that would be amazing."

By Andrew Mills

There are few musicians on earth who could be described as irreplacable. Etta James was one of these musicians.

Etta James was one of the most influential performers of her generation and will continue to be for many years to come. She sang songs that broke your heart, songs that made your day, her songs weren't just songs, they were soundtracks to emotions.

After fighting through heroin addiction during the 1960s, Etta came to the attention of a whole new audience when her cover of Muddy Walters' I Just Wanna Make Love To You was featured on a British tv commercial and saw her reach number 5 with the track, her highest uk chart appearance, in 1996.

It was announced last year that James was suffering from Leukaemia and was undergoing treatment. It was complications of this disease that ended the fantastic career of the lady described as the greatest of all modern blues singers.

With the loss of Etta James, the music population loses a performer that will never and can never be replaced, a truly tragic moment in music history.

By Andrew Mills

For the first time I get an actual piece of journalism and not just a stage from which to preach to all you f*ckers. I'm leaving the titling of this piece up to the Editor, on the agreement that he doesn't call it something shit like 'A Competition With Class'.

I'm not a fan of Battle Of The Bands, they tend to produce the same sh*t from the same eople with the same 'loyal' teeny-bopper fans and make no f*cking effort to actually be fair.

This year there seems to be a difference in the I Wanna Be A Rockstar competition from Music First promotions. The scoring system is as fair as is possible (2 bands through from the first round, one on audience votes and one on judges) and it has my favourite rule of any competition I know of - If you leave before the judges decision, ie if you and your fans p*ss off and show no appreciation of the other acts, then you are immediately disqualified. How good is that?

Plus the list of prizes is unreal, album recording, UK tour, music video, t-shirts, seriously its out of this world. Go to http://musicfirstpromotions.sharepoint.com/Pages/default.aspx to apply, you only have until New Year's eve to have a chance of being one of the 36 selected bands so get it in fast.

by Spike McNae

OFF-BEAT: So you’re in the middle of your Call to Arms world tour, how’s it all going??

BIFF: Great, really enjoying it started in Greece we’ve been all over and heading back to the UK soon, playing in Stockholm tonight, looking forward to it.

How do you find the crowds differ for example between Europe and The US?

Well different albums were popular in different countries, for example in North America the set list is quite different to South America, it’s just what’s popular in that place, and what the crowd wants to hear. It’s a mixture really of old and new.

So you adjust your set list accordingly

Yeah we do

You’re playing in Leicester on the 14 December; we are very much looking forward to that.

Yeah we are too, we haven’t played Leicester for a long time. We have played the De Monfort Hall there many years ago. So yeah really looking forward to it.

So the album Call to Arms released earlier in the year you said you wanted to get back to your roots, do you think you achieved that?

Yeah I think we did musically and lyrically, the team that we put together was great, the way it was recorded was as it was in an 80’s style we kept it basic, except with the modern technology, it is much more of an 80’s sound. It’s had a great reaction, fantastic reviews.

So who are you listening to at the moment?

Well we get to listen to Anvil and Vanderbuyst every night who are supporting us on tour!

Very nice

Yeah it is, but apart from that we don’t have time to listen to any music really, we’re so busy its get up shower, travel and play, you know

Yeah that’s understandable. Lastly do you have any plans for the next year or so? Any festivals in the pipe line?

Much of the same really, we are playing some big festivals next year, and hoping to do some writing.

We very much look forward to that!


The second UK leg of the Call to arms world tour begins 13.12.11 in Oxford, playing at the O2 in Leicester 14.12.11. Saxon’s album “Call to Arms” is it out now. For more information go to www.saxon747.com

By Lisa Adkin

This gig was a few weeks back now, but it took me this long to work out what to say about this man. Fox Elipsus may be the first truly original artist I have seen in the last decade.

It took me close to an hour to get Fox and understand what he was doing. It was when he performed his song Father, prefixed by a ten-minute monologue, which the audience hung on every word of that it suddenly clicked in my head.

I shall explain, Fox is an anarchist in the true sense of the world; his songs focus unapologetically on social, political and environmental themes.

However spliced into his set are entertainingly ridiculous covers, impressions and rap songs about his pets as well as charming and very funny rapport with his audience. It was this juxtaposition that originally confused me, The solution to the riddle that is Fox Elipsus is simple, due to the harsh nature of his straight songs, it is difficult for him to not sound preachy and distance his audience, to counteract this problem Fox throws in comedy aspects to stop his fans from feeling like they are being judged and scolded, a problem that many political artists are yet to find a resolution for.

Speaking to Fox afterwards he let me into another reason, many of his gigs are in the States, where the Oxford born musician has lived for many years. In order to bring political messages to American audiences, according to Fox, you have to slip them past by distracting them with cat noises and Michael Jackson impressions. Essentially Fox Elipsus has mastered live subliminal messaging.

Fox is an incredibly hard working man, touring the world playing around 300 gigs a year he does not charge entry for his gigs, he makes his money through donations and CD sales. All of this while living out of a hired car.

It is not just his work ethic that makes Fox so inspiring; it is also his lyrical content and his infectious charm and humility.

From a personal perspective, Fox and I discovered that we had both at one time been described as ‘looking like we smell like Johnny Depp looks like he smells.’ – The only comparison to Johnny Depp that is more insult than compliment, having spent years thinking I was the only one, Fox Elipsus will always have a place in my heart.

Keep you eyes out, if you get a chance to see Fox perform, do not hesitate to take it, it will be like the most unique evening of your life.

by Andy Mills

A familiar face to many, Chris has made quite the name for himself on the local scene, through gigs both solo and with his band Sideline as well as festival dates and as one of the most prolific artists on the local open mic scene.

Chris’ spirited ballads have gained him many a fan around Leicester. Show Me The World is a five-track collection showing off Chris’ song writing ability and his array of musical talents.

Kicking off with She, which sees the first soaring guitar riff of the album. The line “Cupid couldn’t hit himself with a bow and arrow and use it to fall in love” is a fantastic opener that sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the collection (also, thanks go to Mr. Ostler for saving me some time and effort by putting the lyrics in the album sleeve).

An even more rambunctious guitar riff announces the arrival of the ever-popular Teenage Love Song (Lemon Squeezy) a favourite at open mics. Every time I hear it, this riff sounds better, truly a master class in the writing of simple, awesome sounding guitar licks. Also, credit should be given for getting “Wahey” into a song.

Chris Ostler is well known for his high octane, energetic performances and that is brought across nicely in this album. But he also shows his gentler side in Show Me The World, a softer ballad, followed by Squarish Tunnels, the only acoustic track on the album.

Chris first caught my attention at an open mic when I saw him cover Another Man’s Cause, which is a song I believe (or believed) to be uncoverable, but Chris did a great job of it. On this album he turns his own hand to a story of a child at war, with the last and most mature track on the album, Bullet From Heaven.

To split hairs, because its my job, perhaps Chris’ only weakness is the words he chooses to make the feature of certain songs, Squarish Tunnels includes sporadic melodic recitals of the word “Elevator” and Lemon Squeezy ends on the word “lemon”, which isn’t necessarily poignant to my ear, then again Dr Dre ended a track on “cabbage patch” so who can really judge?

As I say, its part of my job to point out weaknesses so I found one, but this is a genuinely enjoyable album from a very talented young man. The very confident biography in the sleeve notes speaks of Chris Ostler’s desire to make it big. If this sublime album is anything to go by, he just might.

by Andy Mills

Truly the most middle class festival we have ever attended, but still holding on to the charm of a smaller festival, Cornbury festival was a whole new experience for us.

Sets from Cyndi Lauper (featuring the legend that is Charlie Musselwhite), James Blunt, the Faces (with Mick Hucknall on vocals), Imelda May, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Ray Davies, Eliza Doolittle and Status Quo amongst many others made this a fantastic combination of new and old in a truly beautiful location.

Throw into the mix a stage of unsigned local acts from Oxford and beyond and a comedy tent that presented some of the best, new and old, Cornbury Festival, despite its high ticket price, was a great experience for music fans of all ages.

by Andy Mills

Music venue, comedy hotspot, family friendly café, The Crumblin’ Cookie is going from strength to strength at the moment and has cemented its place on the local music scene after this brave and incredibly successful gig.

Opened by Barricades Rise who kicked off a day and night of fantastic music with their own special brand of energy. Continuing throughout the day the music came from Nancy Dawkins, who despite being ill still put on a performance that could make doves cry. She was followed later by Jess Hopkins, who’s stunning tunes further proved that Leicester’s solo female acoustic artists are slowly but surely taking over the city’s music scene. Chester’s Shy and The Fight brought a mix of stunning vocal melodies and some of the most controlled drumming we’ve ever heard. Not for me perhaps, but that doesn’t stop this band being truly fantastic at what they do. In the words of Sam Winterton, its not my cup of tea, but a cup of tea is still a cup of tea.

The Daydream Club brought to our ears some astounding vocal harmonies; these two simply produce gorgeous music that is perfect for a summer’s day chilling out in a lovely venue enjoying a barbecue.

The music came from upstairs and down as this gig went on, flowing from the heavy to the light, solo acts to full bands without ever loosing its fluidity. There was no rush between stages, no overlap, everyone played on time and the day was simply stunning.

By the time By The Rivers hit the stage for their headline set everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I admit being quite concerned when Jordan and Nile took to the stage to perform duo versions of the band’s songs, mainly due to the alcohol consumption levels that clearly preceded the gig. However, as always with By The Rivers, it matters not the state they are in, these two are musical robots. Their harmonies were absolutely perfect, so much so that when there is only one singing you think they both are and when they both sing you hear at least five voices drifting across the crowd. Another stunning performance from the choice of the local scene topping off one of the best all day gigs I’ve seen, The Cookie took itself to the big leagues with this gig and long may it stay there.

by Andy Mills

‘Shaken’ Fozzy Escape Serious Injury in Tour Bus Crash

Fozzy were involved in a tour bus collision on Tuesday that has left the two of the band with minor injuries but counting themselves lucky.

The crash occurred in Germany as the band were on their way to Denmark to play as part of their European tour.

The band were thrown from their bunks as the tour bus collided with a barricade and went into a 50 foot skid on two wheels.

Lead singer Chris Jericho, who was not involved in the crash as he was travelling with co-headliners Anthrax’s on their tour bus said:
"All of us in the Fozzy family are relieved and blessed that nobody was seriously hurt in the accident. What makes things even crazier is that I was discussing the bus crash that took the life of my hero, Metallica's Cliff Burton, with the Anthrax guys at roughly the same time the members of my own band were experiencing almost the same thing."

Although the Denmark gig had to be cancelled Fozzy are intent that their London date on Sunday, which ends their tour, will go ahead as planned.

Link to photo of bus

Our favourite festival of last year we arrived at this year's Acoustic Festival of Britain with high hopes. Our first reaction was one of disappointment but not through any fault of the festival itself - We had heard that the festival was in need of breaking even this year and the rocky financial state was clear, there were twice as many stalls in half as much space as last year and the line-up was undoubtedly 'weaker'. I put weaker in inverted commas there for a simple reason, in this case it is used to mean the acts were less famous and that does not always mean weaker, it didn't in this case.

Fighting through whatever financial issues they are experiencing, The Acoustic Festival brought the same open, chilled, peaceful and incredibly family friendly that had so enchanted us last year. We have no idea how it does it, but the Acoustic Festival seems to be the only festival that is completely devoid of idiots, the crowd are all just lovely.

It says a lot for the festival that we saw a lot of the same people there this year as last, once you go once you can't help but want to go again, this weekend sucks you in and you can't help but want to go back.

The music was entertaining, a weekend of extreme, possibly one of the worst festival sets I've ever seen by Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel was cancelled out by an absolutely astounding headline set from the kings of Bluegrass Hayseed Dixie and a nostalgic, if at times slightly disturbing set from John Parr. Cerys Matthews charmed the crowd with her special blend of blues and some of the new acts on display were spectacular.

One of our favourite weekends ofthe year, despite the troubles its facing, maintained its class and elegance and we hope there shall be many more to come.

Leicester's Riverside Festival used to be a quaint little weekend with canal boats, events on the river and the occasional bit of live music. It has now become a weekend of top quality music with some quaint events on the river.

As a free festival Riverside is as good as it gets and this year's festivities were the best yet. The quality of live acts on both the acoustic stage and the main stage was ridiculous and the organisation of the festival itself had far improved.

Last year the acoustic stage was nothing short of a shambles, it had been overbooked, every changeover was due to last no more than 5 minutes and as an audience you felt like you were being assaulted with music with no possibility for a break. At a festival with such a relaxed atmosphere this was not the way to go.

This year From Dusk 2 Dawn learnt from their mistakes with their acoustic stage, there were less acts, but a better overall quality and the stage had a much nicer and genuinely calming atmosphere.There were a number of stand out performances on this stage over the weekend but, as Leicester's acoustic scenetends to be, the female solo acts dominated. Off-Beat favourite Nancy Dawkins, who is in the middle of a huge year absolutely owned the stage despite her early afternoon slot and charmed everone in the vicinity. The other performance that captivated us was Natalie Squance, simply one of the most talented songstresses I have ever witnessed. Natalie's vocal talents and guitar abilities are already phenomenal, and the terrifying thing is there's probably more improvement to be made. This is clearly a lady who is set to take over the music world.

The main stage also had a plethora of talent with two ats who noticeably stole the stage completely. There will be no surprise when we tell you that the two acts who stole our hearts were Free Control on the Sunday and By The Rivers on the Saturday. By The Rivers were double gigging this night and had to run out of Leicester off theback of their performance but that did not take away from their performance. A packed out crowd crammed across Bede Island and beyond to see the band who are on a serious rise on the national music scene. A ridiculously cool moment from drummer Jordan Birtles who headed a football thrown from the crowd mid song without missing a beat added to the intense impact of this truly talented group of people. Free Control were a perfect way to wind down the weekend's festivities, the blazing sunshine complimented the band beautifully and the general consensus around the stage was that people pay good money to go to festivals with acts far inferior to Leicester's finest who were on display throughout a sublime weekend.

This was always going to be one of the toughest reviews to write this year, we have adored every piece of Barricades Rise material and a new album meant one of two things – either we would be disappointed and have to find a way to say it, or we’d have to find more ways to tell you how amazing these guys are. Fortunately with All I Have Is Here, the Barricades boys have given us a brand new direction, which means that there’s a whole bunch of new things to say – so here they come.

Firstly, this is one of the bravest releases I have been aware of for some time, speaking to the boys in the past few months they had told me that the new album was a lot gentler and they were concerned that their audience would be disappointed by the lack of energy there was in the songs. I can reassure them now, having listened to this album a lot over the last week, that there is no chance of that.

Yes the songs are slower on the whole, the album has taken a far folkier angle than their previous material and it is very different, but it is still very Barricades Rise. What they have done with All I Have Is Here is evolve, which is what every good quality act should do – The boys have grown up and so has their music. The subject matter is more optimistic on the whole, with a couple of well deserved exceptions – If You Were Here is a truly heartbreaking song for example, a tough topic handled with exceptional maturity and the class that one has come to expect from Barricades Rise.

Instrumentation has also evolved, heavy use of a banjo is always a risk but as always, the boys have a complete understanding of when and how to use all the instruments at their disposal and the banjo is no exception. Still a mainstay at the centre of the album are Jonathan and Michael’s spectacular vocal harmonies, never so amazing as they are during a chant breakdown in Nod and Smile.

I am a big fan of sections of albums that flow perfectly – Laura Marling’s Alas I Cannot Swim album found its way into my heart due to the back to back awesomeness of My Manic And I, Night Terror and The Captain and the Hourglass, which flow better one after the other than any three songs I’ve ever heard – well, until now. All I Have Is Here ends with the gorgeous folk ridden Folk Songs and jazz Bands, the epic and powerful Roundabouts which conjures up the energy and passion we all know and love from Barricades Rise and the album draws to a close with the majestic Just For Tonight, a love song with the perfect sprinkling of cheese, conjuring up the spirit of Meat Loaf’s early material but, as always, maintaining a completely modern spin on it.

It was difficult to impress me with this album, the pressure that Barricades Rise were under from us were unreal, we have put them on a pedestal and we expect them to stay there (to give you an understanding of how important this album was to us, when I received it, myself and several Off-Beat staff had a listening party followed by a discussion group, that is not our usual way.) With class, style and grace Barricades Rise have not only kept up to our expectations, with the bravery, the evolution and the sheer beauty of this album they have far exceeded it.

After winning last years best recorded material award from us, the boys have made it clear they hope to win next year’s and in all honesty, this album is really going to take some beating. The album is released today, buy it, you need it, an absolutely mind blowing effort from one of the best in the country.

Smokin’ The Profit
After a charming opening set by Davenport, who get everyone in a chilled out party spirit, Smokin’ The Profit took to the Musician stage.

This was intended to be a short review, a polite little write up – STP have been in a few Off-Beat issues recently and in the interest of fairness I was going to give their set a brief mention. Unfortunately the band had different ideas. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, by far the best I have ever seen Smokin’ The Profit play, they have been going from strength to strength recently but the jump they made this night was huge.

With Phil Garrett (of Megadub as well as a plethora of other local bands) providing keys and sax to compliment their songs, Smokin’ The Profit put on an absolute clinic. Not a note was missed by a single member of STP throughout the set, but the biggest jump forward was made by frontman Tommy Bee. Tommy has had a habit in the past of looking a little out of his depth in front of a crowd, he has always been a capable lead singer but his interaction from the audience has always been slightly lacking, until this gig.

During their first song Tommy looked out at the crowd, who were ready and willing to be placed in the palm of his hand. His face betrayed a subtle sense of smug arrogance that is perfect to front a band of this style and calibre. A sly smile to himself prefixed Tommy’s complete owning of the crowd and of the set. A spectacular performance.

By The Rivers
I simply cannot explain how good this band are. Pure reggae should not be able to sound this modern and a band of children should not be able to sound this damn good.

In honesty by then end of this set I had drunk quite a lot and accosted lead singer Nile Barrow at the bar to shout at him for not being an idiot. A strange thing to say maybe, but my logic was simple, if a young band are as insanely talented as this one and are also deeply unpleasant, I can forgive them. However, not only are By The Rivers one of the best unsigned bands in the country despite having an average age that can’t be much over 11, they are also one of the most humble, down to earth and positively charming bands I have ever set eyes on – what a bunch of b*stards.

The vocals that this band create are stunning, their brass section is amazing, the songs are catchy and beautiful , there is literally not enough words on this planet to describe the talent this band brings. If you haven’t seen them, see them, see them now.

Wife Divorces Man Accused Of Hotel Leap
Another late publication, but another well deserved one. I knew this gig would be good, I was not disappointed.

First up, Wife Divorces Man Accused Of Hotel Leap, possible the longest name in local music.

WDMAOHL (to save space, they shall be called that from now on) are less of a band, more of a musical experiment. A father/son duo who look at music, decide what shouldn’t or can’t be done, then do it.

They’re first song involved the name of their band being sung in what I counted as 7 different time signatures but I may be wrong, there was a lot.

Other songs cross controversial topics with ease, subtle suggestion mixed with crude statement creating a stunning lyrical effect.

WDMAOHL have a great ability, they are a great background band, they don’t have to be invasive to your day, but if you do stop and pay attention a whole new level of goodness opens up, one that I suggest everybody experiences.

Free Control
What is there left for us to say about Free Control? The favourite band of Off-Beat’s Lisa Adkin and the band that tamed Spike McNae (briefly), this group of virtuosic musicians own any and every stage they set foot on.

Even through what appeared to be catastrophic keyboard failure halfway through the gig, Free Control still put the crowd into a trance as their atmospheric blend of awesome travelled its way across Firebug.

More chilled than a cold beer on a warm day, and twice as euphoric, Free Control are simple the best at what they do.